Hmmm. Which is all very interesting, as an 'off-the-top-of-my-head' list. The meme says, 'books you've been transformed by', and the books that were truly transformative for me were primarily those I read in my childhood and formative years. In fact, there are only five books on the list which I read after I left my teens.

What also strikes me is that, while I don't think of myself as purely a fantasy reader or writer, those books I adored during my formative years, and which have shaped me as a reader and writer are largely from the broad fantasy stable. Everything from high fantasy with the McCaffrey to early urban fantasy with the de Lint, to mythology-inspired fantasy with the Zimmer Bradley, Cooper and Seymour. I've cheated a bit with 'Faeries', as it's primarily an art book. That said, it is a book I've loved since I was seven years old, and which has certainly been transformative for my imagination.

Also, while all of the books on the list remain treasured members of my library, there are many of them I won't read again. They were important for me at particular stages of my life, but they're not novels I feel any desire to read again now.

Looking back over the list, I can see that most of the books were ones that not only shaped my imagination, but which also taught me lessons in the art of writing; what is possible, and how it can be achieved.

Who'd have thought a quick meme could end up revealing so much about me?

1.I haven’t drunk a ‘proper’ cup of tea for more than a decade, but on a whim yesterday, I bought a packet of green tea with jasmine and a packet of white tea.

2.Until I was 20-years- old, I lived near the sea.I haven’t since then, and I miss it more than I can say.

3.I don’t like hot weather; in fact, like Tiffany, I enjoy a good rain storm.It’s exhilarating to walk in (so long as you can get dry and warm afterwards), and there’s nothing like listening to the rain on the roof, when you’ve writing or reading.

4.I’m a massive wearer of scarves.I have many, dangling from hooks and wardrobe doors.The floatier and sparklier the better.

5.I’ve spent most of my life in the UK, but when I was 5, I lived for a year in Montreal.One of the few memories I have of that year is of taking Baba the Elephant out of the local library and reading it.It made me cry.

6.I don’t drive.I tried to learn, but driving to me is like water is to most cats.

I was planning to write something meaningful about craft and viewpoint today, but now I come to it, I find my brain is too addled by mince-pies and yule log to come up with anything intelligent, so instead, I'm going to resort to posting something frivolous. Or meaningful, I guess, depending how you look at it.

This is a particularly pretty meme that's been doing the rounds recently, and it's the first one I've been tempted to complete. Do feel free to join in. Hope you like it ...

If I was a month, I’d be September. If I was a day of the week, I’d be Sunday. If I was a time of day, I'd be twilight. If I was a planet, I’d be Pluto (because nobody’s quite sure what it is!) If I was a sea animal, I’d be a seahorse.

If I was a direction, I'd be west. If I was a piece of furniture, I'd be a big comfy reading chair. If I was a liquid, I’d be ginger ale. If I was a gemstone, I’d be a moonstone. If I was a tree, I’d be a willow.

If I was a tool, I would be a quill pen. If I was a flower, I’d be a daisy. If I was a kind of weather, I’d be an April shower, with a rainbow. If I was a musical instrument, I’d be a wooden flute. If I was a color, I’d be purple.

If I was an emotion, I’d be hope. If I was a fruit, I’d be a blackberry. If I was a sound, I’d be rain falling in a woodland. If I was an element, I'd be earth. If I was a car, I’d be a Mini. If I was a food, I’d be chocolate. If I was a place, I’d be a bluebell wood. If I was a material, I’d be brushed cotton. If I was a taste, I’d be cinnamon. If I was a scent, I'd be bluebells.